Natura Gracia > Linklaters LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Linklaters LLP provides advice to a wide range of water sector stakeholders, acting for water companies on regulatory and competition challenges and investors on financing arrangements. Julian Davies and Natura Gracia head the team in tandem, with Davies specialising in M&A and financing in the sector, while Gracia takes the lead on regulation and competition. Mark Nuttall heads the firm’s structured finance team, assisting water companies with both debt and equity raises, working alongside Elisabeth Johnson, who is well versed in setting up infrastructure financing. Emma Crawford provides further financing capacity and is also able to assist with regulatory issues and investigations.

Praised for its ‘a wealth of experience’, the ‘highly commercial and focused’ team at Linklaters LLP handles the full gamut of contentious and non-contentious competition matters. Trusted advisers to industry giants such as Microsoft, Vodafone and Meta, the team showcases its expertise in merger control work, enjoying recent success handling Phase II investigations. Natura Gracia, a dual-qualified (English and Spanish) practitioner, is the London practice head, and advises on a wide range of competition matters, including complex global mergers involving filings under merger control and foreign investment regimes in multiple jurisdictions. Bruce Kilpatrick, who returns to the team from Addleshaw Goddard, stands out for his ability to handle complex Phase II merger investigations and related appeals. Other notable individuals include Anna Mitchell, who is highly regarded for her experience in UK and EU merger control, UK public M&A, multijurisdictional deals and market investigations, and Verity Egerton-Doyle, who is noted for her work on complex merger and behavioural investigations.